Walmart To Hire 55,000 Holiday Workers

Walmart has announced a slight increase in the number of seasonal workers it plans to hire this year, as the retail sector at large is expected to see a drop-off from last year. The Bentonville, Ark.-behemoth said on Monday it will hire 55,000 seasonal workers for the 2013 holiday season, 5,000 more than it took on last year. Retailers in general, however, are expected to hire in the range of 700,000 temporary workers for the Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 holiday season, according to the Chicago-based employment consulting firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas. That's roughly a 7 percent drop-off from last year's holiday hiring.

Walmart watch
As the country's largest private employer, Walmart's hiring plans are always closely monitored. But Walmart was also attracting attention for its announcement Monday that it plans to transition 35,000 part-time workers to full-time status while bumping up another 35,000 part-time workers to temporary status, as Bloomberg news reported.